Comments on Tory Bear - right-wing political gossip: A View From the Stump

Are those Macs next to balls in the Picture? If so...

2010-06-17T14:47:14.047+01:00

Are those Macs next to balls in the Picture? If so spotted some cuts already.

Not a fan of yours TB, but this line about Ed Ball...

2010-06-16T14:03:41.517+01:00

Not a fan of yours TB, but this line about Ed Balls' performance literally made me laugh out loud: "....leaving him looking like the guy in a nightclub who is still yelling in a girl's ear when the music has stopped".

I think you have chosen the right guy to 'back' as a Tory - Balls is truly awful and would make a terrible leader. I have literally no idea why the likes of Ellie, Sally and Kerry are backing him. I don't really know who I am supporting, but it won't be him, that's a certainty.

I have to say that I don't ike the sound of &q...

2010-06-15T18:48:45.562+01:00

I have to say that I don't ike the sound of "local assemblies" to much.

Sounds like you mean another tier of pointless jerks, sitting about wasting our money.

There is an element of truth in the local council issue. However I am proud to say that the Conservatives in Wakefield lost no seats to Labour or anyone else and gained one from the Limp Dicks who look like they are bout to become extinct. Labour local success was on a huge turnout that simply isn't going to be there in May 2011.

TB, while you are right about the number of seats ...

2010-06-15T16:41:04.978+01:00

TB, while you are right about the number of seats determining who governs, my point still stands: the established parties are in decline, and politics in general is suffering. (By the way, who won a majority in the Commons? Errr, no one party.)

Cameron needs to invigorate the electorate and get them interested in politics again. Thatcher did, of course (for all the wrong reasons) but Cameron needs to get people talking politics again for all the right reasons.

It is possible that if his localism agenda is honest and pushes power to local assemblies then it could invigorate politics locally. The problem for Cameron is the resurgence of Labour at the local level (they gained council seats on May 6th), and as the cuts start to bite the electorate will use local (and devolved assemly) elections to punish the Conservatives and Lib Dems. You could very easily see Tory and LD councils fall to Labour in the next few years. Cameron will not want to see the creation of a Derek Hatton, but he will if he gives more power to councils.

It is a difficult decision to make: will Cameron do what he thinks is right (localism) or what is politically expedient (retrench the executive)? I think that when it comes to the wire, Cameron will retain as much power as he can.

NuLab leadership contest; the vavuzola of politics...

2010-06-15T15:25:11.874+01:00

NuLab leadership contest; the vavuzola of politics.

How long do we have to endure this dirge? Is it t...

2010-06-15T14:58:22.925+01:00

How long do we have to endure this dirge?

Is it true that Milipede D. will leave politics if Milipede E. beats him?

One lives on hope...

PS: Love the image of Ed Cojones...

I disagree. who lost seats and who gained them? r...

2010-06-15T12:14:34.972+01:00

I disagree. who lost seats and who gained them?

re typos - yes have fixed. my bad. was in a hurry. as ever.

TB, you need to copy edit again, there are lots of...

2010-06-15T12:09:28.968+01:00

TB, you need to copy edit again, there are lots of typos in this piece.

Are you seriously saying that Burnham reminds you of a young Cameron? Shudder. Burnham seems to think that dog-whistle issues are the right direction for the party, Cameron was never that simplistic, was he.

You're right that Labour lost because it lost voters. You are wrong to suggest they voted for Cameron instead. All political parties are suffering from a decade-long voter apathy, and none are asking what is causing it. Political party membership is down and people are more reticent to associate with a political viewpoint. Politics has stagnated.

Blair did enthuse the electorate in 1997 (but, of course, he did not deliver). As Lord Ashcroft painfully points out, Cameron did not achieve the same thing in 2010.